Frequently Ask Questions

Please read Data recovery best practices.

If new data has not overwritten deleted data, you can recover files in almost all cases, including:

• Files deleted from the Recycle Bin or network shared folders. (For a network shared folder, run File Scavenger® on the computer where the folder physically resides.)
• Files deleted in a command prompt window or in Windows Explorer using the Delete/Shift key combination.

Recovery is much more likely for files on NTFS and exFAT volumes than FAT or FAT32 due to the latter's inherent structures.

Reformatted drives can be recovered using the Long scan. NTFS and exFAT volumes are highly recoverable. For reformatted FAT or FAT32 volumes, however, only contiguous files can be recovered. Click here for more information.

Deleted or corrupted volumes can be recovered using the Quick or Long scan and selecting the disk number where the volume resided. All supported file systems are highly recoverable.

You can use the Long scan to recover files lost when partitions are merged or resized unsuccessfully. You may need to use the option volume affiliation.

Please read Strategies for an unbootable computer.

This action reformats drive C: and reinstalls the original Windows operating system and programs. Many data files may be overwritten and cannot be recovered. But many others should be recoverable. The chances are better for smaller, less fragmented files residing on larger disks.

Please read Strategies for a computer restored to factory settings.

The folder "My Documents" is reset with a new installation of Windows. All files in the folder are deleted but may still be recovered if they have not been overwritten. The chances are better for smaller, less fragmented files residing on larger disks.

A file is not immediately overwritten when deleted. It is only overwritten when Windows needs space for new files and somehow allocates the same clusters that once stored the file. A file is not recoverable if overwritten.

Please read Strategies for a computer restored to factory settings.

Disk defragmentation rearranges data on disk for optimal performance. As a side effect, deleted files can be overwritten and become unrecoverable.

Please read Features in File Scavenger® 7.1

Please read Strategies for an unbootable computer.

In general File Scavenger® is a file recovery utility and cannot recover individual emails. However, email programs typically store emails, attachments and email addresses in files. Such files may be recovered if lost.

File Scavenger® is especially proficient in recovering JPEG photos on any media. Scan the media using Quick scan first and Long scan if necessary. Click here for more information.

• Run File Scavenger® on the target computer and click the "Licenses" button on the Toolbar.
• Select "Licensed".
• Type in your Purchase code (from your email receipt) and click "OK".
• On the next dialog, click "OK" again.

The software can be purchased from our Web store at:
https://www.quetek.com/products3.htm

We accept the following types of payment:

• Major credit cards (VISA, MasterCard, American Express, Discover, Diners, JCB, ...)
• PayPal
• Bank transfer
• Western Union money transfer

If you use a credit card, your card information is forwarded to our credit card processor (also PayPal) for processing. We do not save your information in our systems.

Please visit https://www.quetek.com/invoice.htm

Please see Licensing and technical support.

You may upgrade to a more expensive license of the same version by paying the difference between the prices. Buy the more expensive license at full price from https://www.quetek.com/products3.htm and send us email requesting full credit for the less expensive license.

• If you have a version 6.x standard license you receive a $32 credit when buying a version 7 license.
• If you have a version 6.x professional license, you receive a $99 credit when buying a version 7 professional license.
• Upgrading from version 5 to version 7: 20% upgrade credit.
• No credit for older versions.

We are required by the EU to collect VAT on purchases made by consumers. Business customers do not have to pay this tax if a valid VAT number is provided.

Only accounts with Administrators privileges on a Windows® computer can run File Scavenger®.

Run File Scavenger® on the computer where the drive physically resides.

Please read Select a scan mode..

Please read Strategies for the Recycle Bin..

You can scan the disk number assigned to the drive. All drives are assigned a disk number that can be displayed in Disk Management unless the drive is physically defective and is not detected by Windows®.

The file cannot be recovered because its contents cannot be located.

Please read Save data to the same drive..

Writing to a CD or DVD typically requires a staging folder on the boot drive (usually drive C:). Recovering data to these media, therefore, is not allowed to avoid accidentally writing to the drive holding the lost data.

If your computer has a USB port, external USB drives and flash drives are excellent alternatives.

If a drive has been deleted, resized, reformatted or corrupted, scanning the disk number instead of the drive letter can produce better results. For example, if drive D: is on Disk 1, search Disk 1 instead of D:.

If a recovered file is not usable after different scan methods have been used, it may have been corrupted. Common reasons are:

• New data has been written to the drive, overwriting original data.
• The file was affiliated with the wrong volume.
• The file was fragmented and was on a FAT or FAT32 volume. Click here for more information.
• For a reconstructed RAID or spanned volume, it is possible that incorrect configuration settings have been used.

Please read the help sections listed below:

• Recover software RAIDs.
• Recover hardware RAIDs.

In demo mode, File Scavenger® only saves the first 64 kilobytes of each file. The recovered file, therefore, may not open. JPEG files will only display the top part of a picture. You can save files smaller than this limit or use Preview to display picture files.

Use the View Filter to show only the desired file types, then select them for recovery. For example you can display only JPEG photos by clicking on the View Filter icon on the Filename heading banner, choose contains, and enter .jpg in the textbox.

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